The first major composition project for this year's Juniors involved setting a Shel Silverstein poem to the solfege pitches of Sol, Mi, and La.
Why those pitches? Well, they're arguably the ones that are most ingrained in your brain. Traditional European folk songs, which many of us were exposed to from a young age, are often based in those three pitches. All the tones in "Rain, Rain, Go Away?" Those are Sol, Mi and La. The first phrase of "A Tisket, A Tasket?" Sol, Mi, and La. The "na na na na na, you can't catch me" taunt from the playground? These are also Sol, Mi and La.
Having the specified tones clearly in one's brain when composing is a musical act that can be difficult to do. That made this composition project part ear-training exercise, as well, as the melodies were originally composed with out any help from instruments.
Besides the parameters of a Sol-Mi-La melody, students were encouraged to have a Do-Sol beat or bordun in a low instrument, and then to take the form of the piece (the different sections and how they are combined) and make it their own. Some students chose to make other sections that switched the melody and the bass, while other students made up dances to accompany the melody, and other students varied their original melody in some way and made that a new section. Most students also included intros and outros to their pieces.
This clip is about 8 minutes long and shares a sampling of work from Juniors C and Juniors D.
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